Boris' new election broadcast

We're grateful to have been given advance viewing of Boris' new election broadcast. It's very impressive.

At just under five minutes it's longer than the previous one and has good shots of him campaigning all around London - including being hugged by a bus driver, greeting a voter in French, being cheered by members of the public as he cycles past, and interrupting a TV interview with David Cameron to talk to the crowd about Heathrow...

The main quotes from the video are:

"London is the city I've spent most of my working life in, it's the city I love, but for too many Londoners, the quality of our lives is not improving - and that's why I think it's time to apply fresh thinking, and creativity, and energy to the problems that really concern Londoners."

"My trips around London have taught me what really matters to people: the nightmare of the school run, protecting our green spaces, improving recycling... and their view of us modern day politicians."

"It makes me really angry when I meet child after child who says they've either been mugged on the bus or shortly after getting off it, and that's
why I think it's vital that we put more uniformed police on the buses and drive out the so-called minor crime and disorder. Because if we crack down on minor crime and disorder we can make a real difference to the serious crime that also afflicts our city."

"I think it's time to recriminalise crime. What I mean by recriminalising crime is taking your experience of crime seriously and not endlessly downgrading thigns that happen, assaults, thefts of mobile phones, and just calling it anti-social behaviour. This is a crime!"

"One of the problems we all face is that people are so disillusioned about politics, and with Parliament now trying to clean up its act I want to go a step further by putting every penny I spend as your Mayor online available for you to consult on my website."

"I'll tell you one thing that really annoys me, it's people saying that I'm going to cancel the Freedom Pass. It's just not true,under my mayoralty the Freedom Pass will be guaranteed round-the-clock on all modes of transport."

"When I look at London I don't just see the greatest financial and cultural centre on earth. I also see a city that is fantastically open, and tolerant, and cosmopolitan, an example to the rest of the planet. But I believe London could be greater still, and when I become mayor it will be safer, more openly administrated, it will be cleaner and easier to move around in. In order to make that change it's vital that you vote for me, Boris Johnson, as mayor, and for the Conservatives for the GLA on May 1st."

Comments

Sleek, smooth and grown up - all the things Boris is accused of not being. Brilliant video to counteract the criticisms. Dare I say that the Boris team really are pulling it out of the bag at the moment??

Michael White hints to day in the Guardian what is being picked up on the groundthat there is now a likelihood of a big BNP vote in the London elections. This is coupled with the Muslim extremists trying to turn out the vote for LIvingstone.
Shades oif Northern Ireland where the failures of the entrenched politics led to the extremists taking control.
Personally I expect Johnson to benefit from a swing to the Tories bvut Livingstones vote may hold up surprisingly well in inner London.Finally will the BNP beat the Lib Dems who seem to be in freefall and irrelevant?

I expect to be bored by election broadcasts and this grabbed me from start to finish. It's beautifully made. Really shrewd politics. And the team must have put loads of time and effort into it.
I am genuinely impressed.

It doesn't address the issue on the minds of people in all parties: his overall level of competence, or as Jeremy Paxman put it rather more rudely: "No one has ever accused you of being competent, have they?"